Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN) Receives $198.40 Average PT from Brokerages

Waste Connections, Inc. (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $198.87.

Several analysts have weighed in on WCN shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Waste Connections from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $196.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Eight Capital raised shares of Waste Connections to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Waste Connections from $198.00 to $197.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Waste Connections from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st.

Institutional Trading of Waste Connections

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in Waste Connections by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 852 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waste Connections by 18.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Connections during the second quarter worth $261,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Waste Connections by 8.3% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Waste Connections by 19.1% in the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 681 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.09% of the company's stock.

Waste Connections Stock Performance

Shares of Waste Connections stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.88. 985,962 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 885,393. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Waste Connections has a 12 month low of $141.55 and a 12 month high of $194.83. The stock's fifty day moving average is $183.78 and its 200 day moving average is $179.84. The stock has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a PE ratio of 50.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.74.

Waste Connections (NYSE:WCN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.30 billion. Waste Connections had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 15.43%. Waste Connections's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Connections will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Waste Connections Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from Waste Connections's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Waste Connections's payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Waste Connections Company Profile

Waste Connections, Inc provides non-hazardous waste collection, transfer, disposal, and resource recovery services in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services to residential, commercial, municipal, industrial, and exploration and production (E&P) customers; landfill disposal services; and recycling services for various recyclable materials, including compost, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic containers, glass bottles, and ferrous and aluminum metals.